Notes on building up oneself in a specific field

Jan 18, 2015
• Tags: personal-development methodology

I’ve talked to my new leader days ago and we discussed several questions. I found some new ideas to me which may be helpful.

I’ve ever tried to go back to academia. I think it’s a good way for a man to make progress and build up a solid background in a specified field. I still think it’s correct. But along this route, some people fail while a small group of people succeed. It is necessary to think about what leads the difference.

1. Spare specific and enough time to read

People get tired after work, of course. But it can not be said that time is used up. Spare out one hour or so every day is not that hard. Use this regular time to read and accumulate.

It’s simple and requires not much effort, but it have to be kept in everyday life.

2. Think ahead for the work you are in charge of

Maybe at work we don’t have much time. But it’s important to see further than jobs at hand. If one takes responsibility and behave like an owner, he may earns a lot.

For example, we can attend meetings or ask other peers for what they’ve done, and try their ways in our own work. Every engineer grows in that way.

So here I mean growth is not only the accumulation of knowledge which may be obtained from books or teachers, but also the wisdom on how to make progress when you are not surrounded with books. Abilities are of various kinds.

3. Make specific plans

I added this point just now, and it may be different from the preivous two but is useful in pratical plans.

Even I know what and why to do something, I have to know exactly how to do it. Break down a big plan, and use no obscure words when expressing a plan. Make every step in a plan is clear. If it’s not clear now, just add a step to investigate on the topic, and then come back to make the plan clear and specific.